SANDRA DEE OWENS

My journey of skiing the length of Vermont on the Catamount Trail is underway and section 9 (there are 31 sections that stretch the wilderness of Vermont from Massachusetts to Canadian border) is my next section.

my biggest fear of this journey has been less than stellar navigation skills. The Catamount trail association publishes a book and a great website of the sections, written descriptions and maps.

However, I would love (a google view) to embed actual images of intersections, open fields or any other potentially confusing area directly into my head so I can pull up those images as I approach them on the trail...but since this does not exist, I have relied heavily on guides i.e. the trail chiefs and friends of the CT to ski with me.

while this has been a joy and given me a whole new group of ski friends, it does not address my fear. This journey has been about learning and experiencing new things...and part of that goal has been to address fear.

so I thought about how I learn...and how I do not learn...in other words, my nature.

So I took the (long and confusing to me) written description for section 9 in the CT guide book and divided it into small portions, added color and personal notes, printed, cut, numbered and waterproofed each strip.

I printed the map, waterproofed it with shipping tape and made it into a pouch to hold the numbered strips.

...and suddenly I realized that during the process of creating this path to understanding, I began to absorb the information in a way that I could not before and I stopped feeling afraid and started feeling more confident, prepared.

Damn!

so on my journey in the wilderness, I am learning to trust myself and give myself permission to learn things in ways that best suit my nature.